before a controversial auction of Mahatma Gandhi's memorabilia in New York City on …
NEW YORK (AFP) – Mahatma Gandhi's meager possessions were sold for 2.096 million dollars, commission included, at a New York auction, Antiquorum Auctioneers said Friday.
Indian liquor and airline baron Vijay Mallya won the auction with a huge 1.8-million-dollar bid, commission excluded, for the revered independence leader's round glasses, worn leather sandals, pocket watch, plate and bowl.
Tony Bedi, who acted on Mallya's behalf, said his client was "bidding for the country" and would take the items back to India.
"Antiquorum is pleased that the objects attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest spiritual and political leaders of the 20th century, will be returning to India. We know that this was the hope of the Indian people," Antiquorum chairman Robert Maron said in a statement.
"Our commitment to this process and our reputation as auctioneers has insured a fair, and we believe, positive outcome."
India had bitterly opposed the auction by the owner, California-based pacifist James Otis, insisting that Gandhi's belongings were part of the country's national heritage and that their sale was an insult to the memory of a man who rejected material wealth.
The auction house, which specializes in the sale of watches and clocks, said it had made total sales of 8.7 million dollars Thursday and Friday.
"Despite continued global economic concern, we have achieved tremendous results for our first auction of 2009," said Antiquorum president and CEO Evan Zimmermann.
Among the other lots sold Thursday was a watch that once belonged to US president John F. Kennedy and that Jacqueline Kennedy later gave to her second husband, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
The watch, which was knocked down for 120,000 dollars, had two inscriptions.
One, on the back of the watch, read "To President John F. Kennedy from the Evangelines, 1963" a reference to Evangeline and David Bruce who gave it to the president the year he was assassinated.
The other, inscribed on the edge of the watch, consists of the four letters, which the auction house said stand for "For Ari, love, Jacky."
"The 'Kennedy Onassis' watch is the only known item connecting JFK, Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis," Antiquorum said.
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